The First Date Without Guns
by a.shepard.m
Summary: Shepard's love life didn't start out from battlefield flirting. More along the lines of, awkward...I'm an Idiot...flirting.


_It's so cold outside! Thank god for good coffee and comfy sweaters._

Penny was sitting, patiently, sipping her drink and looking at the news that was going around in the city she was in. She couldn't imagine just living in one place, as it seems the news reports a lot of bad things that have happened recently. Such as a car crash, robbery, and a kidnapping. All within this week.

_Well, I know one thing for sure, never going to live in a big city. Maybe on the outskirts of the city, or a smaller, more friendlier one. But that's when I'm older. More wise. Probably a happier time then now..._

She started to tap her foot nervously, attracting other peoples' attention to her. She blushed and stopped the tapping so she could blend in once again. She scrolled through the news again, horrified that there is only more bad news to report, and shut the data pad off.

_Why am I even here? Why did I agree too this? This could be the most awkward night, and then if I ever see him again, well, it'll just be awkward! This was not a smart move Shepard. Not at all. What were you __thinking__?_

Pen is screaming in the inside, but on the outside, seemed deep in thought as it looked like she was focused on the vid they were showing on the screen. A group of kids her age sat themselves at a huge table a couple of feet back from her, whispering and looking in her direction, but she pretended not to notice. Every time she saw a person walking toward the coffee shop, she instantly scanned to see if it was him. About five minutes till the designated time, he still hasn't arrived.

_If you're not fifteen minutes early, you're late_, Pen thought. Something that was drilled in her mother and father as they always wanted to teach her the best lessons life could give her. But that never meant that they were never late for some occasions. So she brushed this off and waited some more, sipping carefully again at her coffee.

Then she saw a figure in a black coat and running shoes heading towards the door, she blushed again and attempted to look like she wasn't looking for him, but instead looking at the story of "blinding Christmas lights and why you should avoid them".

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He entered carefully, looking around and seeing the group of teenagers look at him and grinning, he inwardly groaned. He didn't actually expect people from his school to come and watch him go to his first date. This was supposed to be his moment, not theirs. Especially if things went downhill, he didn't want their ears and eyes to have front row seats.

She looked at him and smiled, and he felt so much at ease. He remembered why he was here, it was because this extrovert girl started talking to him and said to him, "I don't have your phone number, here's mine so you can message or call me." He weakly smiled and said sure, at a loss of what to say that this beautiful girl picked him out of all the guys in this Basic Cadet meeting. She grinned and walked away, actually, it was more like sashaying away.

He shook his head and hoped she didn't notice that he drifted off a bit. Then he smiled back.

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_This is going to be interesting_, Pen thought, _as it seems like he brought his friends with him? Maybe so they can tell him if he can do better or not. He probably could do better than me since I'm not as good as these city girls. _

She cringed inwardly, remembering the time when she gave him her phone number, and he seemed hesitant to take it. At the moment she thought nothing of it, but now she was hoping that he didn't feel like he was obligated to talk to her or to take her on a date_. I should've just waited till he gave me his. Then this would be a lot simpler. Well, cheers that you at least tried! _She thought sadly.

He grinned and something to her that she didn't catch.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

He grinned even more and repeated, "What did you get? It's either really good, or I made you wait too long, which wasn't very nice of me."

Penny looked down and saw that two-thirds of her coffee had disappeared.

_Well, shit. Just say it's really good. Don't make him uncomfortable. Go ahead. Stop talking to yourself. Stop it. You look like an idiot! Say something!_

"You're very good and it's too long."

_Dammit girl. Think__**. Think**__ before you speak._

"I mean, it was very good, and you are nice! I've just came here early because... I had nothing else better to do. Not saying that I don't have a life, just saying that I... heard about this coffee shop.

"Uh-huh."

"And it's really good. Really good ratings and such. You picked a good place. Nice job! Congratulations! I hope on our next date I can pick a good place!"

"There's going to be a next date?" He gives her a teasing but questioning look.

_SHIT! Did you say that out loud?_

"Well, yeah, I would hope so. You seem really nice, and your different. I'm different and your different. So we could be...different together."

He stares at her, and then she takes a breath and exhales.

"How about I get the next round of coffee? Okay great, you wait here."

Pen runs up to the counter in a hurry and orders two more of she had bought earlier. She looks at the menu and starts reading it while also mentally counting to ten. When she reaches ten, she looks nonchalantly back to see what he's doing. She comes to find out he's sitting and staring at her. Grinning. Like an idiot.

_Great. Now he thinks I'm special. Now this turned into a pity date. You're great at this Pen. You ought to do this more in the future._

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_She's walking back, act cool, and stop SMILING! You already got the hottest girl in the class sitting right in front of you and you've barley said twenty words! Just be cool. Just. Be. Cool._

"So have you heard about the kidnapping that happened down the street?"

She looked at him shocked with two coffees in her hand.

_Way to go. Now she thinks you're a freak who likes news about kids being kidnapped. Why not mention the Basic training that's starting in a couple of days? Or puppies? You can't go wrong with puppies!_

"The little girl had a golden retriever puppy that was also killed by the van that kidnapped her."

_Just stop. Maybe you should pretend there was an emergency and leave. You've done so much damage that it can't get worse._

But as soon as he's about to check his phone for the "emergency", she sits back down with wide eyes and says, "Are you serious? That's horrible, do they have a lead yet on what kind of van or any suspicions on what the kidnapper looked like?"

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_Wow. He watches the news. He's not even around from here and he still likes to be updated on what's going around. That's really smart, I've never met someone who does that like my family does. _

"Nah, they haven't gotten anything yet, but it's a big town, so hopefully someone will see something weird and report it to the police. I just hope that she's returned safely to her family before Christmas."

"I hope so too. I couldn't imagine spending Christmas without my parents. Even if it's a bit lame, it's nice to be around the family and watch the old classics all day."

"Yeah. It's going to be hard on both of us then since we'll be in basic for Christmas. So I guess we'll celebrate it together then?"

_He seems nice, and genuine about trying to be my boyfriend. Maybe this won't turn out to a disaster like it did with Neal. _

"Sounds great Nick! Or I guess I should call you Duke since we have to go by last names soon, so might as well start now."

She gives him a wink when she takes a sip of the warm coffee and he smiles back at her.

"Okay then, Shepard, our next date is Christmas."

She laughed and clinked her cup to his and both smiled and took a sip. Both of their last thoughts before departing each other, and him giving her a soft kiss on her cheek, was _This is the start. The start of something great._


End file.
